Voss retains Under 20 title

WINNER: Reporoa's Michael Voss retained his Under 20 men's 8km road title in Masterton on Saturday. PHOTO/FILE

Despite a week of illness in the lead up, Reporoa's Michael Voss retained his Under 20 men's 8km in road running title in Masterton on Saturday in a time of 26min 44sec

He moved further away from the field as the race progressed to win easily from a fast finishing Cantabrian Sean Eustace 26min 57sec and Stefan Przychodzko from Wellington 26min 58sec.

Voss appreciated the slow start to the race before applying the pressure and splitting the field apart.

Other Lake City Athletic Club members at the championships were Jason Cameron and Tony Broadhead who were third and fifth respectively in the 45-49 10,000m and Kathy Howard who was third in the women 65-59 5000m.

Canterbury's Daniel Balchin and Laura Nagel from Hawkes Bay took out the senior titles in the marquee 10km race.

Balchin was near the front for the ten-lap men's race and put in an early surge to test the field after four laps.

With one lap to run the two South Islanders Balchin and Shields shook off the others and set about a titanic contest that was only settled in the final metres with Balchin finally shaking off a tenacious Shields.

Nagel, winner of the national 10km cross country titles four weeks earlier stamped her intentions on the women's race early in the 10k event, clearing out from Lydia O'Donnell and Sally Gibbs. She extended the lead on each lap and won comfortably in 35min 14sec.